Admiral William H. McRaven, a Navy SEAL and commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, spoke this May to the graduating class of his alma mater, the University of Texas at Austin, with advice on “if you want to change the world.”
When it comes to investing, some deep thinking can provide perspective on your finances. A reflective investor will find himself challenging some of the accepted beliefs held dear by the investment industry.
A persistent seasonal anomaly for stocks is the “presidential cycle,” a pattern of performance coinciding with various years of a presidency.
Considering that annual fees can run 3 percent or more, and investment performance for the vast majority of these funds has been subpar, if offered a liquid-alt mutual fund, our decision would be to pass.
It’s amazing how the 24/7 media bombardment of random noise and sound bites on the economy and markets has investors continually on tenterhooks. It seems Armageddon is always lurking around the corner.
Wall Street’s propensity to create arcane products and sell them to investors within broad asset-allocation programs has increased portfolio complexity and altered overall performance.
If your employer offered to double your salary, would you jump at the chance? In a rational world, you’d take that deal 100 times out of 100. However, you’ll probably be surprised to learn how we make a “no brainer” decision like this depends on whether someone else is involved.
Investors continue to pour money into hedge funds, even though their performance has been downright awful.
Illegal insider trading generally refers to buying or selling a stock, in breach of a duty of trust and confidence, while in possession of “material, non-public information” about the stock. This also can apply if the person possessing the information (the “tipper”) passes along the information to a “tippee,” who then trades the stock. Steve […]
An estimated 2,700 private equity firms manage some $3.5 trillion in assets. Often called “buyout firms,” they solicit investments from pension funds and other well-heeled investors that are pooled into “funds” and used to acquire public and private companies.
The popularity of target-date funds has attracted a bevy of providers fighting for market share, many trying to differentiate themselves by using unconventional strategies. This has led to wildly different performance for funds with the same target date.
Throughout history, good accounting practices have promoted trust in government and capitalist systems, while inadequate accounting has led to financial chaos and even revolutions.
Despite your newly obtained degree, you don’t know anything. You have no skills. If you are really lucky, you will soon land your first job. You are not entitled to that job. If you get it, you should be grateful for your good fortune and make the most of it.
Merger activity has exploded this year, and a key factor behind many of the deals is the ability to use cash stockpiles held overseas.
Slow and steady wins the race” is a value-investing mind-set that’s also applicable to building an NFL roster. Choose overlooked or undervalued prospects, not the Heisman Trophy winner or Twitter.
According to the Switzerland-based Bank for International Settlements, aggregate global debt has ballooned more than 40 percent since the financial crisis and is estimated to have reached $100 trillion.
‘Behavior gap’ is the difference between what an average investment returns and what the average investor actually earns, because he or she can’t leave investments alone long enough for them to prosper.
As another annual report season arrives, the compensation tables in proxy statements clearly show that it pays to be a director of a public company.
In a 2013 cover story, Fortune magazine described Amazon as a “brass-knuckled battler for every penny of competitive advantage.” As state treasurers can attest, that portrayal is both well-deserved and important to understanding the rise of Amazon.
In 2012, Fannie and Freddie started making money as the housing market rebounded and losses in their mortgage portfolios reversed. By the end of this month, the firms will have returned $203 billion to taxpayers. In the meantime, several hedge funds began acquiring both the preferred shares and common stocks of Fannie and Freddie.
